Surprise! I self-printed a chapbook of my poetry.

It has been a dream of mine — since fourth grade or so — to have a book of my own poetry. I’m very good at making excuses and choosing perfection over done-ness.

This chapbook, The Moon in Seven Jars, is nowhere *near* perfect (I have discovered at least one typo already, because I could not bear to read my own work one final time), but it’s finished and it’s printed and it’s out there.

Though I’m prone to stalling, I am not as prone to shortcuts. I had a clear vision of having my chapbook cover hand-printed by a linocut artist. I found Lara on Etsy; her work is incredible and entirely up my alley.

(Below are a few other designs by Lara, which she included in the package of covers she shipped me.)

I also wanted to work with a local printer; I chose Inkworks. I had the good luck of beginning this project before the pandemic hit, so I was able to talk through my job with them in person — but after a contact-free cover drop-off and a few simple email exchanges, they did a bang-up job.

(Somehow I’ve managed to skip the part where my sweet husband Dan spent hours sweating over InDesign to help me lay out pages, choose and re-choose typefaces, format the file for Inkworks, etc. Dan helped to execute every piece of this, short of writing the poems himself.)

After another contact-free visit to Inkworks, I arrived home with 50 pristine copies of The Moon in Seven Jars.

…Which I just stared at it for a few days. What was I supposed to do, let other people see this thing?! And possibly even read it?

I’m pleased to say that half of the copies have landed on the doorsteps of family, as well as friends with at least a passing interest in poetry. The rest I am offering up for sale on a sliding scale; Venmo me at @Erica-Reid-22 if you’re interested! I’m happy to ship ’em.